My trip to Pedernales and Bahia de las aguilas

El Tigre

El Tigre de DR1 - Moderator
Jan 23, 2003
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First and foremost thank you to Minerva for giving me a few tips for my trip.

Left Santiago on Tuesday April 10th @ 11 am. Arrived in Pedernales @ 8:30pm. The trip would have been shorter if we didn't make so many stops. We stayed at the Hostal Dona Chava. The owners are SUPER NICE and go out of their way to make sure you are comfy. That night hung around the only city park which is in the center of town. Had a few beers and chit chatted with the locals. In bed by 11ish.

Wednesday April 11th
Got up @ 8am and went for BF @ an Hostal a block away because the cook for Hostal Dona Chava was out of town (slow season). Back to Hostal Dona Chava by 9:30 to meet a local guide I hired the night before ($1,000 pesos). I didn't want to take any chances of getting lost due to the little time we had for this trip. Based on the owner of Dona Chava we opted for two sites. El Hoyo De Pelemplito in the Sierra de Bahoruco and Bahia De Las Aguilas. We arrived @ El Hoyo De Pelemplito by 11am. It was breathtaking (a word I'll be using a lot in this trip report). The views, the temperature, the fresh air MY LORD the air up there filling your lungs. The smell of the trees and nature. I can easily spend a few days there camping. A few others in my group and I loved it. Unfortunately, others didn't as they are more beach goers. We left the site around 1 and headed for Bahia de Las Aguilas. Got there by 2:30 and made a stop in Cabo Rojo. Bahia de Las Aguilas was everything and more than I had hoped for. Breathtakingggggg!!!!!!!! I had never experienced such a beautiful beach (other than Playa Rincon in Samana). As previous reports have stated there is nothing there so bring a cooler if you can with refreshments and snacks. The boat to Bahia is $1,500 pesos. They say the road to Bahia is in really bad condition but to be honest I think it's so that you are forced to take the boat! Wonder if anyone has tried the road? We were at Bahia until 6ish. We opted not to eat at the seafood restaurante @ the caves (where you take the boat to Bahia) because we were told the prices are higher than the restaurants in town. We ate @ a local restaurant in Pedernales (can't remember the name) and the food was really good. Langostine for 500 pesos...can't beat that!!! Back to Hostal Dona Chava by 9ish...shower then hit the malecon and park in Pedernales. Not much to do on a weekday. Just a few of the locals playing dominoes, chit chatting and having a few cold ones. In bed by 2am.

Thursday April 12th
Up by 9am...breakfast @ a hostal a block away and off we went to stop @ Los Patos which we had all agreed on. We left Pedernales around 10:30 and reached Los Patos by 12ish. Hung out there till 3ish and off to Santiago we went. We got to Santiago by 11pm. Although I had not one but a few backup drivers I did all the driving myself. I feel more secure with ME on the wheel.

Anyhow here is the gallery. Hope you all enjoy.

trip to the south - Dominican Republic - a set on Flickr
 

suarezn

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Feb 3, 2002
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Good report. I agree about the little road and keeping it in bad shape so you have to pay for the boats. When I was there a few years back I was not driving a 4X4 vehicle so I didn't chance it, but once I was on the beach there were like three vehicles that showed up and obviously made it without a hitch. The beach is beautiful, just if anybody goes use plenty of sun screen...I don't burn that easily but I did big time when I was there and we only spent a couple of hours.
 

drloca

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Oct 26, 2004
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Great trip report, thanks. Brings back some wonderful memories of some of my favourite places in the DR.
 

mountainannie

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Dec 11, 2003
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great report and photos.. you sure did pack it all in to a couple of days! Pedernales is one of my very favorite places and I would really recommend it to anyone. I, too,would love to camp up in the cloud forest but do not know if this is possible. Can I ask how the road was into Hoyas de Pelempito? Last time I was there it was really washed out - passable really only with a concho or a very strong SUV.

Also.. for the next time, I would really recommend that you include a Friday or Monday to stay for the Haitian market and cross over into Anse a Pitres - the border is open on those days. You can just walk down the main street to the beach and sit under the trees and have a soda.

Not that there is much to see in Anse a Pitres but it is a sweet little town- they just got electricity on the main street and a couple of the churches about two years ago.

Intrepid travellers can take the open ferry boat from there which goes overnight to Jacmel.....
 

pgolivares

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Apr 9, 2010
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beautiful pictures/country. how much does something like this cost, including airfare from sto dgo? i am assuming you flew in. thanks
 

nomis

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Jan 22, 2010
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Thanks for sharing, as you have great fotos! We drove in back in 2006...more beautiful than I remember!
 

mountainannie

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Dec 11, 2003
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beautiful pictures/country. how much does something like this cost, including airfare from sto dgo? i am assuming you flew in. thanks

no.. he drove.. and I think that is the only way to get there now unless you charter. There is an airfield in Barahona and they were running some flights direct from Puerto Rico but I don't know if they are still doing it. But the option of chartering a small plane is not so out of the question as it might seem particularly for folks on the north coast. If you have four people it can break down perhaps to a reasonable amount considering the driving time.

Pedernales is a LONG way from the Capital.. it is 3 hours south of Barahona and you have to drive through Parque Jaragua which is an amazing landscape - sorta like out of the old westerns with huge cacti and nothing for miles and miles.. You can stop on the way at LAgo Oveido and perhaps see some of the Iquanas...

The drive from Barahona to Pedernales is one of the most beautiful I have ever seen - with the mountains coming right down to the sea. And the changes are amazing - from almost desert in one patch to lush green in another.

There is a tour group run by some French guys which will take you up into the hills - into the coffee country and give you lunch. Very beautiful with breathtaking scenery and folks who have clearly been living the same sort of life for hundreds of years.

This is an area which merits at least a week - there are some very good hotels there .. and the scenery is quite unlike anywhere else on the Island.

Advanced scuba divers leave from Pedernales to go to Isla Beata... which is 45 minutes by boat.. although I do think that in time they should be able to leave from a closer place.

You can take a Caribe tours bus to Barahona from SD.. about 300 pesos .. but then you have to get the guagua to Pedernales. Alternately you can get the guagua directly to Pedernales at Duarte con Paris (although I have no idea of the schedule nor any way to figure out HOW to get the schedule except go over there or write to my friend who was a Peace corps worker there ) which is air conditioned and will mean that you will have a seat the entire way.

Once you are in Pedernales - without a car.. you will have to find a guy with the concho or a truck or something to take you about

but the folks at Dona Chava can hook you up with that

There are about three upscale hotels in town - all run about 1000 pesos a night.

There is one good hotel on the Haitian side - about the same price but often full.

hope this helps

also.. be aware that this is a desert climate - different from the rest of the island. It can get very hot in the summer -- but it is a very dry heat -- I had a little thermometer on a key chain which registered 114 degrees when I was walking in Anse a Pitres in August.. BUT I was walking !~!!\

Sometimes in Las Terrenas it is only 90 but I cannot MOVE!!

And the nights down in the desert cool down quickly,

Really it is amazing how many different eco systems there are on this island - ten, I think? From below sea level to 10,000 feet... truely a jewel!
 
Aug 19, 2004
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They say the road to Bahia is in really bad condition but to be honest I think it's so that you are forced to take the boat!

Some places should be more difficult to get to. If it is was easily accessible it would lose the main reason for going there. The great thing about it is there are no vehicles there IMO if the road isn't in poor condition then sooner it is made impassable the better.
 

pgolivares

Member
Apr 9, 2010
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thank you mountainannie... i've done the sto dgo to barahona thru the lago enriquino way...beautiful ride...the reason i assumed he flew is because the first couple of pics were from the air and i thought that maybe the maria montez airport was running...
 

ccarabella

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Feb 5, 2002
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Amazingly beautiful. I love the picture where the river and the ocean meet.
Have to add it to my list of things to do.

Thanks for the trip report

CCarabella
 

El Tigre

El Tigre de DR1 - Moderator
Jan 23, 2003
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Glad you all enjoyed the report and the pics :)

The next time I plan a trip to the region I want to have more time to do more sites. Like Minverva had told me when we exchanged PMs there is A LOT to do in the area.